


Yours Truly

by Karasuno Volleygays (ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Dating App setup, Future Fic, Happy Ending, M/M, One mild panic attack, heavy introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-27 19:24:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12588884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor/pseuds/Karasuno%20Volleygays
Summary: Kageyama Tobio only signed up for the dating app because his friend urged him to. He never expected to find a match, and certainly didn't think he'd ever fall in love with a stranger.Even a stranger he'd known half his life.





	Yours Truly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trashijima (berryvonne)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/berryvonne/gifts).



> This fic is very narrative heavy due to the nature of their communication. I realize that kind of thing isn't for everyone, so if it is bothersome for you to read, perhaps this isn't the story for you. However, I hope you read on and to see you in the kudos or comments.
> 
> Also, I took heavy liberties with the masquerade theme of the exchange. It's meant to signify that online, we all get to be the ideal version of ourselves, but it doesn't make the unideal reality of us any less deserving of love and affection.

**Catch of the Day** : H

**Gender** : ♂

**Seeking** : ♂

**Message Body** : _Hey, I saw your profile and want to get to know you a little better. I’m a 27 year old male seeking male, and I’m not into the casual sex thing. I’m not experimenting or bi-curious or in some kind of denial. I’m just a regular dude looking for someone I can spend time with and hopefully love. It’s weird how hard that is to find on a queer dating website, but you know things are sometimes. I’d like it if you checked out my profile._

_I hope to hear back from you!_

**[ Reel ‘Em In ]                                  [ Throw ‘Em Back ]**

_Deep Blue Sea™_ | _Bringing joy to all our matched fishes._

Tobio stared at the message through his Deep Blue Sea dating app inbox and almost dropped his phone. Panic rising in his gut, he launched himself off the couch and sped into the kitchen where his roommate was scrubbing away the remnants of their dinner.

“Someone answered it!” He pushed his phone toward Tadashi’s surprised face and waved it around. “I told you this was a dumb idea.”

Tadashi shook his head and chuckled. “Only you would think . . .” He took a deep breath and peeled off his rubber gloves, taking Tobio’s phone and reading the message properly. “Wow, this actually sounds like a good one.”

“But why me?” Tobio dropped woodenly into a chair and laid his forehead on the table. “What if he wants to meet me?”

Leaning over Tobio’s shoulder, Tadashi murmured, “That’s kind of the point. How are you supposed to meet someone when you don’t actually _meet_ them?”

“I suck at people. You know that.” Tobio’s voice was muffled by the tablecloth as he moaned, “Why did I let you talk me into making that dumb profile?”

Tobio flinched when he felt Tadashi’s arms drape over his shoulders and give him an awkward semblance of an embrace. “I’ve known you for ten years, Kageyama. If you weren’t likeable, do you really think I’d be here?” He flicked Tobio’s ear and chortled. “Now stop being such a baby and look at this guy’s profile before he gets away. He’s not old or right out of high school, and he sounds pretty down-to-earth.” Pushing Tobio’s phone closer to his face, still squished into the table, he added, “Do it or I will.”

Tadashi barely dodged Tobio’s flailing limbs as he reeled back to gape in horror. “You wouldn’t!”

Over at the sink, Tadashi wrangled his hands back into his dish gloves and wriggled his soapy fingers. “Wouldn’t I?” When Tobio shuddered, he sighed. “You told me not to let you talk yourself out of it, because deep down, you know you can’t want someone special in your life and not actually put effort into finding them. This guy is looking for someone special, too.”

“But what if he’s not the one and I don’t know it until it’s too late? What if he _is_ the one and I don’t know it then, either?” Tobio frowned and furrowed his brow as he planted his cheek sullenly in his palm. “It would be easy if it were volleyball.”

Chuckling, Tadashi resumed his task. “Nobody’s _that_ lucky.”

Tobio swallowed his nerves and tried his best to let Tadashi’s words soak into his brain. He did want someone special in his life who understood him and liked having him around, but not in the way Tadashi filled that role. His old teammate certainly knew him better than anyone — even (or especially) his own parents — but Tadashi was only a friend and would eventually move on to that nebulous ‘next phase’ of his life and leave Tobio alone and without that layer of safety between other people and the things Tobio wanted to say and what actually came out of his mouth.

He wasn’t afraid of the future; however, it was a terrifying prospect to face it alone.

That last thought alone made him scrape himself out of his slump and pick up his phone. His thumbs flew across the buttons as they started to turn his thoughts slowly but surely into words.

_< <Hello. My name is _ _T_ _and I got your message. I’m not good at this, but I read your message and I’m interested. Can we maybe inbox for a while and get to know each other?_

His hands shook as he pressed send, but a sense of relief settled once the deed was done. The message could never be un-sent and now this H would know that Tobio found him appealing.

When his phone buzzed to life with a notification only a few minutes later, Tobio shivered when he saw the garish Deep Blue Sea logo. He quickly reopened the app and tapped the shiny red anchor emblazoned atop his inbox icon.

_> >Glad I didn’t come off as a creep or something. I get enough of those to hope I never act like that._

_Anyway, I’d love to get to know you. If I make you uncomfortable or say anything that bothers you, feel free to say something. I come across as harsh sometimes, but I don’t mean to be. I can usually take a hint when I act like a jackass, but I gratefully accept verbal hints that I need to take a chill pill._

_God, I’m rambling and kind of want to die._

_Anyway, I’m a teacher and I love sports. My best friend likes to make fun of me because my favorite food is a side dish, but his is a dessert to fuck him anyway. Twitter makes me feel old. I’d live in a hoodie if I could. I also wish that small talk came with a form you can fill out because I seriously don’t know what to say to make myself sound interesting. Sorry I’m like this. And also because I sent this message as-is instead of deleting it and starting over._

By the end of the message, Tobio was resisting the urge to cackle at the completely graceless reply he received, even as the rest of him burned with empathy. However, his mystery man’s anxiety smoothed over Tobio’s own reticence at participating in this blind mingling.

_< <It’s okay. I have a serial killer smile so I’m nervous about sharing, too. _

_I love sports, too! I used to play volleyball professionally, but I hurt my shoulder so I can’t do it anymore. I’m going to school for sports medicine. I love pork curry and I don’t even know how Twitter works. Facebook is the only thing I use, and only so relatives can contact me and I don’t have to give them my phone number._

_About the harsh thing, I feel that more than I can say. I did that a lot when I was younger because I didn’t understand myself or other people enough to avoid it. I’m a lot better now, but I say the wrong thing a lot. If I say something dumb and horrible, feel free to mention it. Chances are, I probably didn’t mean it like that and it would give me a second chance to get it out right._

_Anyway, thanks for being cool about doing this for a while. I’d never be able to say any of this out loud. If I did, it would probably be more words than I’ve ever said at once._

Tobio’s fingers hesitated far longer before sending this time around, but Tadashi’s reminder that he couldn’t meet someone without engaging lingered in the forefront of his mind. Quickly, his mind presented the scenario of Tobio as a frail old man wasting away in a rest home, no one visiting him because he had no spouse or children, and all his family were long gone. His bottom lip quivered at the image until his teeth firmly clamped down to dispel the future he was terrified of making a reality.

It was easy to hit send after that.

To ease the anxiety of waiting for an answer, Tobio flicked through the app until he found H’s profile. As he had mentioned, he was twenty-seven, single and never married, identified as homosexual and panromantic, was seeking a serious long-term relationship, and taught health and physical education in middle school. The fact that caught Tobio’s breath, however, was H also lived in Sendai.

As was the case with all Deep Blue Sea profiles, there was no full name or picture — a feature to protect users from unwanted outing; it was the only thing that had made Tobio agree to use the website at all. However, he found himself frustrated with this particular mechanism as he itched to know more about this mystery man.

Of course, sending his own real name and face was out of the question at the moment, but it didn’t stop Tobio from yearning to learn about H.

 

Exchanging messages with H quickly became part of Tobio’s daily routine. Every morning, he’d wake up to a motivational emoji and a ‘have a good one’ in his inbox, making H the only person who messaged more awkwardly than Tobio’s mother.

Afternoons brought the more anticipated flood of new information, with both of them pledging to share one thing about themselves every day. Most of it was firmly entrenched in the mundane, but Tobio devoured it all. After a couple of weeks, he knew that H also used to play volleyball in high school, coached his school’s boys’ team, only liked ice cream when he was depressed, and he had a cat named Fluffles (which Tobio promised not to laugh about).

Tobio’s shares were less pointed, mostly reserved for details about his mostly-friends from his old team and restaurants nearby that he would happily live at if he could. H always found those funny, but Tobio didn’t mind.

It wasn’t until almost a month later that the casual tone of their exchanges shifted. Tobio’s phone buzzed for almost a solid twenty minutes as H blew up his inbox. He read the messages again and again, chest aching a little bit more every time he did.

>> _Today fucking sucked. One of my kids blew out his knee in a practice match today, and it reminded me of so much bad shit from high school. I didn’t know what to do. I felt so powerless. Goddamnit. I’m supposed to be their coach, but I can’t even tell when my best player is running around on a bum leg._

>> _Forget I said any of that._

>> _You know what, no. To hell with it. I trust you._

>> _Why am I even like this? Normal people don’t freak out about normal venting. I’m just so used to being on the receiving end of it that I don’t even know how to dish it out anymore. Of course we bitch about our days in the faculty lounge, but there’s a limit to the kind of things you can bring up in there. I can’t talk to them like I can talk to you._

>> _Well, um, I guess the cat’s out of the bag a little. You’re already really important to me and I wish…_

>> _Sorry, that was shitty of me. I’m not going to pressure you about anything._

>> _I wish you were here, T._

As Tobio processed the avalanche of feelings pouring from H’s messages, his heart lurched with empathy. While he couldn’t relate to watching one of his charges fall to grievous injury, Tobio remembered all too well running into the referee’s ladder to try to make an unmakeable play, only to watch helplessly as the toppled official fell from the ladder and right on top of him. He could never forget that hot, searing pain as he felt his clavicle crack against the nerves of his skin, the sound of his own shriek of pain ringing in his ears.

The reply Tobio finally sent wasn’t as hard as he thought.

<< _My name is Tobio._

H didn’t respond right away, making Tobio’s fingers itch to add that it was a fake name, that he wasn’t ever going to give that last part of himself to a stranger. He had even opened his inbox to do just that when H finally answered.

>> _I knew a guy named Tobio once. He was a great kid that just needed to get his head straight. Just saying it out loud makes me smile._

>> _Oh, and I’m Hajime, by the way._

The name elicited a myriad of emotions in Tobio. Admiration was the most prevalent one, followed closely by the anxiety associated with the other Hajime Tobio knew best — mainly, the person always by that Hajime’s side. He had known a few during his career, both as opponents and teammates, but the one that lingered was a dusty blue memory from middle school and high school.

Not ready to spill his guts on that particular subject, Tobio responded with a bland:

<< _It’s a good name._

Hoping to slake some of Hajime’s ill feelings, Tobio gave an account of his extraordinarily average day at school. No quizzes or tests. Two homework assignments. Gave two correct answers in class. Had pork ramen from a noodle cart on campus for lunch.

Relief that they were both okay after this new step oozed from Hajime’s last message of the night.

>> _Thank you for this. Sorry I dumped on you, but I really like talking to you. I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to give me your name. Hell, even if it isn’t your real name, it still feels like a good step._

Hajime’s words lingered in Tobio’s mind as he went about his business for the remainder of the evening. He read over their string of messages as he lay down waiting for sleep to come, and as he hazily finished the last one, he smiled to himself. Yeah, it really was a good step.

 

Little by little, Tobio started to share tidbits about himself he had previously held close to the chest. He talked about anxiety related to high school and interacting with people. About the small crush he had nursed for his high school team’s vice captain in his first year that had tipped him off that he was probably not straight. About Tadashi and how the kid who laughed at his misfortune the first day they met had become his anchor in reality by the time they graduated.

In turn, Hajime talked about balancing wanting to be out with needing to keep it under the radar because of his job. About growing up with just his mom because his dad was a jackass. About having ‘the talk’ with a girl at his school because she got her period and honestly thought she was dying.

Lighter notes came in the form of arguing over where to get the best noodles in town, along with stories of locker room shenanigans and their distaste for their respective middle school experiences compared to how much they both left it all behind in high school.

Almost two months passed since that first message from Hajime to Tobio, and in that span, Tobio managed to avoid the urge to tell everyone he knew about the person who had insinuated himself so deeply into Tobio’s day to day routine. Wake up, check messages. Between classes, check messages. Come home, check messages. Before bed, check messages.

Soon, a day came when he had no messages, Tadashi was out for the weekend at his parents’ place, and the apartment felt a lot bigger than it really was. Cooped up all day with a stack of textbooks and no reason to go anywhere — a situation he would have killed a man for only a few months before — Tobio couldn’t suppress a shiver at the cold and lonely cloak that pressed down on him.

His kinesiology assignment threatening to go another half hour without progress, Tobio slapped his book closed and grabbed his idle phone from his pocket and opened Deep Blue Sea. Practiced fingers sought out his only contact and started a new message.

However, as his thumbs poised to key in a few words, Tobio found that he didn’t know what he really wanted to say. There was a long list of things he _could_ say that would spark a conversation without intimating his crushing solitude, but every one of them rang false to Tobio.

Tobio was a terrible liar by nature, but the one he had always allowed himself was that omnipresent ‘I’m all right’. Even when he had managed to socially alienate himself in his youth, that one white lie had sustained him until things could finally improve. However, more than ten years down the road, Tobio yearned for the days when he could say such a thing to himself and he could actually believe it.

So he began to type.

<< _I wish you were here._

He sent this simple truth before he could talk himself out of it, ears ringing with the message within the message. Hajime always seemed to pick up on what Tobio meant without having to say it explicitly; there was no way to mistake his meaning here.

Forgoing the futile attempt to do his homework, Tobio busied himself with laundry and dishes and any other menial domestic task that drowned out the weight of the idle phone in his pocket. It was halfway through vacuuming that he felt rather than heard his alert tone vibrate against his leg.

Tobio’s hand dove into his pocket, and trembling fingers tapped the familiar banner at the top of his notifications. “A New Message from Hajime!” launched the app, and Tobio milled his toes against the insides of his shoes in anticipation.

It was short and sweet and exactly what Tobio had hoped for.

>> _anytime, anywhere_

A heavy, healing breath heaved from Tobio’s chest as he grinned at his phone. That small plea had turned into the culmination of two months’ worth of sharing more of himself than he ever had in his life. Nobody knew more about him than Hajime, despite them never having been face to face, and all it took to remove that final barrier was for Tobio to simply say ‘when.’

That thought brought a litany of doubt parading around Tobio’s head. What if Hajime hated the ‘real’ Tobio? He got to know the Tobio who could communicate through his lack of social grace and didn’t have to make eye contact, but what if the gruff and tightly wound Tobio that greeted him fell short of Hajime’s expectations.

What if Hajime thought he was ugly? Tobio could say for certain that Hajime could look like Godzilla and he wouldn’t care, but nobody could really say that looks didn’t matter and not be lying at least a little. While all Tobio yearned for from Hajime was a genuine smile just for him, his gut twisted at the thought that it was the one simple act that he had the hardest time returning.

However, one more note appeared and set Tobio’s troubled mind at ease.

>> _Listen, I know you’re nervous. You’ve had to deal with a lot of shit in your life over things you can’t help, but please believe me when I say that none of that would make me ever regret meeting you._

_I still have a lot to learn about you, but I do know that you’re a good guy. Even if you take one look at me and decide this won’t work out, I can’t imagine ever meeting you and wishing I didn’t. I don’t care what you look like, and I wouldn’t give a damn if you thought I looked like a baboon’s ass and said it to my face._

_I like you a lot, and if any of this helps you come to terms with that, then good. You deserve to be happy, and I’d love to be the one who does that for you. Like I said, the ball’s in your court. I’m just waiting for your toss._

Tobio’s eyes widened at the familiar turn of phrase. He couldn’t remember who said it, but it threw him back several years to when he first started growing into the setter position. One of his senpai had stayed with him for hours after regular practice was over, helping him gauge distances for tosses and get the feel of the motions in his fingertips. Dozens of bad tosses over and over had not deterred this person from doing run-up after exhausting run-up until Tobio could correctly place and time his sets.

It had inspired younger Tobio’s work ethic and drive to improve back then, and those same words long removed from their original purpose had a similar effect on him now.

<< _Do you know that ice cream place in Miyagino near the baseball stadium? The one that serves sundaes in the little plastic helmets?_

Hajime’s reply was fast.

>> _Wow, I haven’t thought about that place in ages. My dad used to take me there before games because the ice cream was cheaper there than at the stadium. I had a dozen of those helmets in my closet for the longest time._

Tobio’s lips quirked upward at the thought of a faceless young Hajime slurping ice cream happily alongside his father. He had no such memories, as his own dad had worked late as long as Tobio could remember and couldn’t ferry him to any practices, let alone spend a warm afternoon in the sun with his only child. The only reason he remembered the shop at all was due to a team outing in high school and his particular fondness for their strawberry frozen yogurt.

It spurred Tobio to make an outrageous request:

<< _is tonight out of the question?_

The almost immediate reply made him quirk a smile.

>> _I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll even go now if you want._

Tobio’s hands shook with anticipation as he replied

<< _Now’s good. I can be there in half an hour, depending on if the trains are running on time._

>> _Yeah, same. I just have to lock up the gym and I’ll head there straight after. I’ll be driving, though._

>> _Holy crap, I can’t believe I finally get to meet you. My hands are actually shaking right now._

The words made Tobio gulp even as his own hands had not ceased their telltale trembling.

<< _I know the feeling._

There was an awkward moment which found Tobio staring at his phone, wondering if he should signify that he was on his way to their rendezvous, or if he should say something coy and flirtatious like ‘I’ll see you soon –insert stock emoji –’. However, he shook off this daze and started toward his usual train stop, first at a brisk walk and then closer to a run when he saw he only had five minutes to make the downtown line.

Crammed in the car with the afternoon rush, Tobio could do little to quell his budding excitement but drum his fingers on his thighs until a curt glare from the woman beside him forced his busy little cadence to quiet down to little more than a motion. He wound his feet together to keep them from bouncing in time, yet he was still unable to halt the gentle quake of his knees as the train trundled along.

An excruciating half hour passed before his train reached the closest stop to the ice cream shop, which was full of avid baseball fans filtering in to see their team maybe-possibly make the post-season for the first time in years. He plowed through the horde the wrong way, skin itching with the touch of a hundred strangers as he slowly worked himself away from the game traffic.

Tobio’s heart thundered in a flurry of anxiety and anticipation when he finally laid eyes on the shop, its worn paint vaguely familiar against a decade-old memory. But as he approached the threshold, his feet cemented themselves to the sidewalk and refused to push forward while his fingernails pressed sharply into his palms.

The point of return was right in front of him. If his train ride was as terminally long as he felt like it was, Hajime was probably waiting for him in there. That small advantage of having time to carefully select and cultivate his words and mannerisms would be gone, and there would be nothing left to shield Hajime from his awkward, turgid personality.

What if Hajime didn’t like him? What if he really _wanted_ to like Tobio but never could because Tobio was the way he was? What if Tobio said something stupid or hurtful and Hajime couldn’t bear to look at him anymore?

But he shunted those thoughts aside and replaced them with Hajime’s warm assurances from before. Hajime wouldn’t do that, no matter how poorly Tobio represented himself and all the growth he’d worked for in the past years. There was something about the way Hajime declared that he’d never regret meeting Tobio that made him believe that it was absolutely true.

Breathing in that thought until his chest burned hot and bright with it, Tobio pushed through the doors.

The shop bounded with the noise of the pregame crowd, with long queues full of noisy children clamoring for their favorite flavors. Tobio caught himself listening to them all, his mouth watering as they reminded him of his impending treat. Forcing those thoughts from his head, he reminded himself that he was there for a much different reason.

It struck him when he began looking around the shop in earnest that he didn’t actually know what Hajime looked like. There were half a dozen men in the dining area that looked like they could fit Hajime’s general age range, but most of them had children herded around them. None of them struck him as single, let alone looking for someone else.

Tobio’s search was pre-empted when something solid connected with his bad shoulder, causing his teeth to sink down painfully into his bottom lip. He whipped his head around to see what had bowled into him, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of a very familiar face.

“Whoa, shit, I’m sorry, dude,” came an even more familiar voice, stirring to life old memories long dead and buried in Tobio’s brain. “I wasn’t watching where . . . I . . .”

A broad grin spread across Iwaizumi Hajime’s face. “Hey, Kageyama, I haven’t seen you in forever!” He reached over and playfully pushed his knuckles against Tobio’s shoulder — the _good_ one this time. “What brings you to this side of town? Didn’t you live all the way on the other side of Aoba?”

Tobio nodded absently. “I live closer now. I’m just here to meet someone.” His cheeks colored as he recalled his manners. “It’s good to see you, Iwaizumi-senpai.”

“Back at you, man.” He averted his eyes and slid his hands into his pockets. “Yeah, I’m meeting someone here, too. I’m late because traffic was a bitch and I —” He shrugged, scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish smile on his face. “Yeah, this is a little bit of a surprise.”

“What?” Tobio’s brow furrowed as he tried to grasp the reason Iwaizumi had stopped talking, realizing that it was as awkward as Iwaizumi seemed to be but unsure as to why.

He took a step back when it finally registered. Mouth hanging slack in shock, he lurched away from his unexpected companion as fast as balance and the swarm of customers would allow. It was almost entirely instinct that guided Tobio to the shop’s other exit and back out into the street, where he dropped his palms to his knees as he struggled to breathe past the knot of anxiety squeezing in the hollow of his chest.

Every aborted mouthful of air oozed the bitter failure he had been as a human being the last time Iwaiz — _Hajime_ — had been relevant in his life. The flavor would resurface every time he felt an unkind word itching on the tip of his tongue, at the occasional flare of impatience for people who happily wrap themselves in average. He had shoved that old version of Tobio far away from himself, but Hajime’s sudden appearance swiftly reminded him that he would always be that dark, judgmental tyrant in the core of his being — a thought that scared the hell out of him.

Panic began to rise as his oxygen-starved lungs burned in protest. Tobio’s eyes bulged while he gasped for air he couldn’t quite force down his throat before it was reflexively jettisoned. The pavement started to swirl beneath him, and he couldn’t help but lean against the arms that wrapped around his sagging torso.

When Tobio’s breathing finally evened out and his raw throat finally stopped hiccupping painfully, the bustle around him finally started to come back into focus. He could hear the dull hubbub of passers-by as well as concerned onlookers, but what grabbed his attention were the warm, gentle hands framing his face and the soothing voice coaxing him back to reality.

“C’mon, breathe,” came the honeyed words. “You’re all right, I promise. It’s okay. Everything is fine. You’re fine. Just breathe, Tobio. Breathe.”

Tobio’s eyes finally focused on Hajime’s concerned face, on the soft brush of a callused thumb on his cheek, on how _close_ they were before he shifted away, hugging his knees in the middle of the busy sidewalk while ignoring the glares he received from the pedestrians he was impeding.

Hajime dropped his hands and sat next to Tobio, their shoulders touching as they both stared at nothing in particular. “Sorry I hit your bad shoulder,” Hajime started lamely, voice wrought with sincerity Tobio couldn’t help but pick up. “I just really wanted to see you so much that, well —” He chortled. “I didn’t see you.”

A snort escaped from Tobio. He chanced a glance sideways, only to shiver just a little at the sight of Hajime’s crooked smile and cheeks dusted pink with embarrassment.

And that smile was just for him.

It overwhelmed Tobio, the realization that one of the few people who knew him at his absolute worst could absorb his awkward flirting and abrupt flight and still want to sit next to him in the middle of a packed sidewalk like it was the most normal thing in the world. Yet as he filtered away the shock that had sent him into a panicked spiral, Tobio scoured his brain for what he thought _his_ Hajime would do, and it was far less of a shock when he came to the conclusion that it would look a lot like this.

And Tobio _really_ wanted to kiss him.

Cheeks burning at the thought, he covered his face with his knees and asked a muffled, “What’s your favorite flavor?”

Hajime laughed, a rich sound that made Tobio’s skin tingle merrily. “Who can even answer that? I can’t eat it too much since dairy doesn’t agree with me, but I love ice cream so much. Don’t think I ever met a flavor I didn’t like.” He fell quiet before adding a quiet, “Well, praline is kind of gross.”

Tobio looked over at Hajime, whose face reddened with every babbled syllable, and his belly lurched at the sight. While he managed to smother his previous urge, he allowed himself to snag one of Hajime’s hands in his own and bring the roughened palm to his lips.

Hajime’s cheeks reddened, but it didn’t detract from his dopey smile. He propped his cheek on his other hand and sighed, his gaze never wavering from Tobio.

Finally, he gave a soft, “Hey.”

Realizing he had been staring as well, Tobio looked abruptly down at the pavement, but even as he did, his fingers threaded with Hajime’s. “Hmm?”

“Let’s go get some ice cream. I feel like celebrating.”

“Oh?” Tobio goaded. His own smile hesitant but still in attendance.

Hajime pushed himself to his feet and tugged Tobio to his, their mouths less than a breath apart and noses nearly touching. “’Cause I like someone, and I think he likes me back.”

His words melted Tobio’s lingering tension as he reminded himself that the ‘someone’ was him and that things could only get better from there. “Lucky guy,” he murmured while they headed back into the shop hand in hand, with no plans to let go in the near future.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was a lot harder to write than I'd anticipated, but Tobes is an awkward bean and I wanted him to be okay. Thank you for reading, and I really hope you liked it.


End file.
